Nutritional control of mRNA stability is mediated by a conserved AU-rich element that binds the cytoplasmic shuttling protein HuR.

ABSTRACT: The cationic amino acid transporter, Cat-1, is a high affinity transporter of the essential amino acids, arginine and lysine. Expression of the cat-1 gene increases during nutritional stress as part of the adaptive response to starvation. Amino acid limitation induces coordinate increases in stability and translation of the cat-1 mRNA, at a time when global protein synthesis decreases. It is shown here that increased cat-1 mRNA stability requires an 11 nucleotide AU-rich element within the distal 217 bases of the 3'-untranslated region. When this 217-nucleotide nutrient sensor AU-rich element (NS-ARE) is present in a chimeric mRNA it confers mRNA stabilization during amino acid starvation. HuR is a member of the ELAV family of RNA-binding proteins that has been implicated in regulating the

SUBMITTER: Yaman I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1959406 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature